Genealogy of Jesus and the stories hidden inside.

Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:2-38 list the ancestors of Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you, but I have found myself wondering about the names listed. What their personalities were like, what their families were like, what traditions and inside jokes did they have, what was their faith like? Would they have done anything different if they had know they would be listed as an ancestor of our Savior?

Also I love the testament of faithfulness of God to his people. And that is where the stories are, the stories hidden in a genealogy. God’s faithfulness. Just think of some of those names, King David. The youngest brother of 7-8, anointed king, warrior, slew not only Goliath but also Goliaths brothers. The warrior slew giants, multiple of them. He wrote music and poetry. But it’s not just David, what about Obed, his grandfather. Do you know who Obed’s parents were?

Ruth and Boaz. Ruth the moabite, a widow who was loyal to her mother in law, and chose to follow the Lord. She was the great- grandmother of King David. and Boaz, he married a woman from outside his culture, I wonder if it was because of his faith, love for her, or because of his mother, Rahab. The woman in Jericho that saved the Israelite spies. Her faith saved her family.

Before they were in the promise land, its Abraham, is Isaac and Jacob. It’s Noah, and Enoch. None of these people were perfect, but they had faith, and their faith changed their family.

The Bible is a family history book, a family we have been adopted into when we accept his free gift of salvation. It’s our family history book.

But our family history doesn’t end in the Bible, we each have our own history, and if we look back and learn about them we might just be surprised how faithful God has been to our family too. I know He has been to mine, he protected my great-grandfather in WWII, he was in communications, he was running lines in the rain, when he slipped and fell, his feet flying up into the air. When he arrived back at camp, there was a bullet hole in his rain coat, between his legs. The bullet went through his coat when he fell, where he would have likely been if he had still be running. I wonder how many more times God has been faithful to my family that I don’t even know about.

How much of your family history do you know? Do you know stories of God’s faithfulness to your family?